Monday, March 20, 2017

FBI Director Comey And NSA Director Rogers' Testimony At The U.S. House Intelligence Committee

* He says FBI probing any links between Trump campaign, Russia
* ‘Putin hated Secretary Clinton so much’ he tried to help Trump

FBI Director James Comey confirmed the bureau is probing potential ties between President Donald Trump’s associates and Russia during the 2016 campaign and said there’s no evidence to support the president’s allegation that his predecessor “wiretapped” Trump Tower last year.

“I have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the FBI," Comey told the House Intelligence Committee on Monday.

Comey said the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a broad inquiry into Moscow’s efforts to “interfere” in the presidential election, an effort he said began in late July of last year.

WNU Editor: The anti-Trumpers are having a field day with today's FBI Director's official announcement that (1) no wire-tap of Trump Tower, and (2) there is (since July) an investigation on the relationship between the Trump team and the Russian government. Other notable remarks from the FBI Director is his comment today that the Russian government wanted to hurt the Clinton campaign .... that Putin personally hated Clinton (something that I have more than once pointed out in this blog) even though the the FBI Director admits that there is no evidence that the Russians influenced the outcome of the election in anyway. But what also caught my attention was the FBI Director's statement that Russia did not provide the email leaks to Wikileaks .... a bombshell that (so far) has not been reported by the main stream media. No evidence of collusion. No Russia - Wikileaks ties over leaked emails. These admissions alone would be more than enough to have put an end to these hearings today. But .... this is Washington .... this story has been ongoing since the fall of last year and I expect this circus to continue and the need for the Democrats to feed their base that this story/conspiracy theory .... call it what you want .... is true .... that the election was stolen from Hillary Clinton. But as I have mentioned more than once in the past .... there is one problem with this narrative ..... no evidence has been provided. I repeat .... no evidence has been provided .... even today.

On a personal note .... after listening to the hearings this morning .... there are some questions that I do like the answers to. One .... who in the Justice Department ordered the FBI to do this investigation in July .... an investigation that started even before Trump had won the Republican nomination. And two .... is there (or was there) any investigations on the Clinton campaign's contacts with officials from the Russian government (that we know also happened last summer). Will these questions be answered later today .... I do not know .... but what kills me about today's hearing is that it was Trump's tax return that was illegally leaked. That it was also his phone conversations that were illegally leaked. But it is Trump who is the focus of the FBI investigation? This is why I am now wondering if these hearings are being used by the Washington "establishment" to send a message to President Trump. In the past I scoffed at the many reports and commentaries ... primarily from the extreme right (and left) that the Washington establishment .... both Republican and Democrat .... would stop at nothing to make sure that President Trump would not push for the reforms and changes in policy that he won his mandate on. Now .... I am not sure. And after listening to the FBI Director's remarks today with no evidence to back-up any of these claims/charges .... and the lack of follow-up questions from the Republicans .... is a message being sent to president Trump to stop Obamacare/trade/immigration/drain the swamp/etc. .... "or else". I let you guys and gals who read this blog to be the judge of that.

Update #2: Someone just made a good point. If Hillary Clinton had won the election .... would the Republicans be doing the same thing today?

Update #3: Another good point from another reader. For the past few months the media has been reporting on leaks and reports of Russian collusion with the Trump team. President Trump states 2 weeks ago in a tweet that that he was/is under surveillance as ordered by the former Obama administration .... and is immediately condemned by everyone .... even though these same media people have been reporting on leaks of intercepted communications non-stop since the election. But we now know today that there is an official investigation but Trump Tower was not "wire-tapped". So who is being investigated? The FBI Director is refusing to answer that question today. Bottom line .... these hearings are a charade .... but man-o-man .... it is going to feed the conspiracy theories for those who hate President Trump.

Update #4: Some are criticising me for going out of my way in defending President Trump. Nope. I am 99% sure that all of this will come to nothing when it is concluded 2 or 3 years from now. What makes me upset is that the debate should be on President Trump's national and international agenda and policies .... policies that will have a far greater impact on all of us than what is happening right now in the House Intel Committee. Sighhh .... but that is Washington. While everyone's focus is on what the FBI Director is saying right now .... and hope that someone somewhere will produce a smoking gun .... President Trumps agenda and policies are being negotiated and implemented with little if any debate or attention.

More News On FBI Director Comey And NSA Director Rogers' Testimony At The U.S. House Intelligence Committee

Anon. This investigation has been ongoing since JULY!!!! Even this Washington Post article that you link to admits that this is all circumstantial evidence. But if there was any real evidence .... this story would have broke out a long time ago, and Trump would not be President today. As for the Washington Post assertion that there is no media outlet reporting on collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia .... are you kidding me?!?!?! I have lost count on how many times I have linked to the New York Times and the Washington Post their stories on Trump and the Russians. The only part of this Washington Post that is noteworthy is the end, and it is what I have been saying for a long time ....

.... It is entirely possible that this whole Russia investigation will never prove any collusion between Trump and Russia. Even Democrats are slowly beginning to rein in their allegations — for fear of having overplayed their hands when all is said and done. And the media is acknowledging this skepticism.

I am not at all faulting you for doubting the story that Trump admin officials have colluded with the Russians. More likely than not, we will find out that there is nothing of merit there. However, the fact is you go out of your way to criticize an investigation into something that needs to be investigated, given the plethora of admittedly faint and circumstantial evidence. At the same time, you gloss over Trump's repeatedly false and highly damaging statements, statements that are extremely unsubstantiated (as we have found out today). In all honesty, and this is coming from someone who outright dislikes Clinton, it really marks your assessments as very biased.

Bottom line is, we can admire some things in Trump, and Democrats must not reflexively dislike him just because he won against their side. There is absolutely no denying however that he repeatedly makes false statements, statements that he could easily verify from his own apparatus of state. You may say these are just words, but when you are the President of the free word, a habit of dispensing falsehoods with no caution or regret is very damaging.

Anon. I am not criticising the investigation .... which we learned for the first time today that it is official. My criticism is directed at the media. As for "Trump's repeatedly false and highly damaging statements" .... I have always posted his remarks, tweets. etc. .... and I have always posted the criticisms (and support) of his tweets/remarks, etc...

As for him being careful on what he says .... I agree .... he should be .... and I did post such a comment months ago. But Trump is Trump .... and as I had mentioned in another comment a few weeks ago I have had to learn when he is serious and when he is not .... when to take him literally, and when to not. President Trump's critics take his comments and remarks literally .... they perceive and treat him as a conventional politician .... which he is not. They is why they have not been able to stop him .... their view and reporting of him is through a prism that does not work on an unconventional politician like Trump. But Trump's supporters do understand what he is saying .... when to take him seriously and when to not .... and that support/base for Trump has not wavered at all since the election.

"A sure sign that the Russia Connection is not that big a deal is if Comey talks about it.

In the third scenario, Russia is a very big deal. Comey, in other words, has significant investigative equities to protect and he believes that he needs to be there in order to protect them—in other words, that he has a responsibility to not get himself fired because of his anger about the Trump tweets (or anything else) because he has to make sure the investigation can proceed unimpeded. In this situation, I would expect him to be minimally verbal. He may have to answer yes or no questions in certain instances, including about the truth of the wiretapping allegations, but he will refuse to answer a lot of questions. He will make as little news as humanly possible. He will be exceptionally spare with his opinions. He will make a point of not antagonizing the President. Lots of people will leave disappointed. "

I agree Jay. But Russia is a big deal .... and regardless of what happens with Comey this story is not going to die. Like President Obama's Benghazi, Fast and Furious, etc. .... President Trump is going to have his own list of scandals. Unfortunately .... there are far better stories out there for Trump's critics to focus on (i.e. his family business dealings with other countries being on the top of my list) .... but they are being ignored.

I would also point out that Comey was specifically authorized by the DOJ to reveal that there is an investigation. Which means that Trump OK'd it. Which almost certainly means that the Trumpster is trolling the Loony Left.

I will keep this simple:1. the tv stuff today was to get at the Trump charges about Obama. 2. additionally, the issue was raised about a possible connection between the Trump camp and Russia prior to the actual election. This info still under study.3. Have you seen the material from the Brit agent Steele that is (I assume) being explored for its authenticity? It is damning. But not yet authenticated fully

Fred. I covered Steele's allegations non-stop a few months ago with multiple posts. If true ... they are damning. But no one has come forward to authenticate them .... and his "golden shower" claims/allegations have discredited him.

People forget, Watergate went from just a failed burglary by some shady people, to Nixon's Impeachment, over 3 1/2 years of investigation.

It takes a long time, a lot of legwork, a lot of informants to turn Trump's Yacht and Ryboloviev's Yachts being tied up side by side at anchor half a dozen times during the Campaign, their jets following each other around during the Campaign, their matching hotel stays,

I kept wondering why Russia was suddenly the Left's "boogie man"? Well, the same people who supported Obama are probably were & are PISSED that Putin exposed Obama for being the beta-male amateur on foreign policy that he did turn out to be! The left, therefore, will try to ceaselessly demonize Putin and use the media to poison the well so Trump will have difficulty with "getting along with Russia". The plot thickens...

The golden shower stuff is probably real..notice how Melania went out of the ramp light and gave trump several bad looks right after those news broke? She was so pissed...probably because she knows about his fetish and realised those stories might be real

I would also add: Remember, Fox News is reporting that a FISA Warrant was requested (and rejected) in July that was later subsequently approved in October on a more limited scope. July is also the same month as the start of the FBI Investigation over Trump.

About Me

I have been involved in numerous computer science projects since the 1980s, as well as developing numerous web projects since 1996.
These blogs are a summation of all the information that I read and catalog pertaining to the subjects that interest me.